North Carolina State University Athletics
Gymnastics Coaches Impressed With Opening Performance
1/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Jan. 18, 2005
Raleigh, N.C. - The NC State gymnastics team is fresh off its opening meet of the 2005 season. The Wolfpack was impressive in the home meet, not only scoring the win over conference foe Rutgers, but sweeping every event title. Assistant coach Todd Henry looks back at the Pack's performance.
Happy New Year! We had our first meet of the season against Rutgers. What a fun experience for me personally. Coming from The University of Arkansas, it was enjoyable to see how another school operates home meets. The set up was beautiful and the crowd was great. Our kids really had lots of fun and enjoyed their time in the spotlight!
The judges were tough but fair. Several of the same judges that judged the Super Six and the Auburn/Georgia meet were present at ours. I knew we would have to look first-rate to impress. Bars were solid for us with the obvious first meet jitters coming into play (short on handstands and a bit unsure with some of the landings). Some highlights were Amanda Jones, competing a double layout dismount for the first time and Heather Zolton, who also unveiled a new dismount (full twisting double back). Overall, Coach Stevenson and I were very pleased with our girls.
We only competed three 10.0 start value vaults (out of seven) over the weekend. Long-term thinking is our goal this year. Protecting some ankles, and developing some more difficulty for down the line. Laurie Singer and Cori Goldstein were nice surprises for us on vault. Both gymnasts will assist Rachel Katz, (who is a machine on vault), when their final vaults materialize. At the end of the day I am really excited about the possibilities on vault!
The Wolfpack struggled on beam. We had to count a fall and several shaky routines. As always, our senior duo of Cori Goldstein and Andrea Petrocelli were rock solid. Freshman Leigha Hancock was also superb. One extremely bright note for us was senior Jennifer Gray. Jenn is a remarkably hard worker and has never competed before. Jennifer was in the line-up as only an exhibition, but then was ask to step up and actually compete! All of us watched as she did a splendid routine! Way to go Jenn!!
The team rebounded on floor with marvelous routines and great attitudes. You never know how a team will do after struggling on an event. This team has a lot of fight and character. Our tumbling was high quality and the dance good but in need of improvement. All the girls really showed off their "stuff" on floor, especially freshman Kelsey Lee. We did not know what to expect from Kelsey. She tends to hold back in practice....not in the meet!
The team will be traveling to Denver this weekend. The University of Denver always has a quality program and we are looking forward to a hard fought competition.
